East of the the Rhode Island Avenue Metro, there’s a gigantic housing complex called Brookland Manor. The owners plan to redevelop it and say they’re building far more affordable housing than DC law requires. The people who live there now say the owners aren’t coming close to meeting the area’s need for affordable housing. They’re both right. This was one of our top posts from 2017. Keep reading…

This year we crossed some major milestones in the ongoing effort to amend the DC Comprehensive Plan to make room for more homes, support more affordable homes, protect residents from displacement, and more.Keep reading…

The Capitol Riverfront is the fastest-growing part of DC, which could create a bottleneck on the Green Line at the L'Enfant Plaza stop at the area continues to boom. This loop could help relieve the congestion. Keep reading…

Bloomingdale is in fact very historic, but a closer look reveals that this initiative is less about preserving history and more about limiting the kind of changes residents can make with their homes. Keep reading…

Rents in DC are projected to rise 3.5 percent more in the next year, and almost 11 percent over three years. The city must continue to make progress on ensuring that there are enough affordable homes for everyone. Keep reading…

Last month, DC finally selected a plan to replace more than 200 homes in NoMa that had been torn down and replaced with a parking lot a decade earlier. Some of the people who were displaced from Temple Courts may finally get to return. Keep reading…

As a followup to our initial post about Baltimore's potential $1 home program, we decided to take a look at how successful these initiatives have been in other cities. People line up for dollar homes, but in most cases the initial enthusiasm meets the tough realization that a $1 property would not be habitable from day one. Keep reading…

To get everything we wanted in our dream house, including affordability, we compromised on the condition. Although we looked at "flipped" houses, we were concerned about the quality of the renovations. Keep reading…

London’s Plan is still in its early stages of public feedback and development, but while we wait for DC’s own amendment process to come to fruition, it’s worth looking to other big-city plans like this for inspiration and ideas. Keep reading…

Over the years, there’s been a lot of back and forth about what to do with the old Hebrew Home and Paul Robeson School. Now the city, with extensive input from area residents, has taken a big step forward in bringing almost 200 homes to the site. Keep reading…

A decade ago, the battle to legalize accessory apartments in Arlington resulted in overly burdensome regulations. A recent decision has loosened these restrictions — but the victory is incomplete. Keep reading…

Despite the glut of unused office space, office conversion has been comparatively limited in the region. These are the considerations that factor in to whether an obsolete office building might be a candidate for another use. Keep reading…

In many communities along the Purple Line, there are real concerns that the increase in value could boost the demand for homes and drive up prices, potentially pushing out lower-income people. Here's how NOT to respond to this situation. Keep reading…

Despite trying to obstruct the process, many neighbors have made offers to buy the building during the approval process–all unsolicited by the owner, who just wants to build out and rent it as a home. Keep reading…

We need the voice of urbanists throughout the Arlington region to let the County Board know that we value forward-looking policies to expand affordable housing and transit-oriented communities. Keep reading…